Ukraine's chief prosecutor said earlier this week that the authorities knew who
had ordered Mr Gongadze's killing.

President Viktor Yushchenko
has pledged to find out who abducted and killed Gongadze, who reported on
high-profile corruption scandals.

A proper investigation was
among the main demands of the pro-Western opposition, which staged the "orange
revolution" that brought Mr Yushchenko to power in January following disputed
elections.

The discovery of Mr
Gongadze's headless body in a wood near Kiev triggered a political scandal,
especially after the emergence of a covertly recorded tape that allegedly
implicated Mr Kuchma.

In the tapes, Mr Kuchma was
heard to complain about Gongadze's reporting and allegedly ordered Mr Kravchenko
to "get rid of" the journalist.

Mr Kuchma says the tapes
have been edited to distort his words.

According to Ukrainian law,
the former president has no immunity against criminal prosecution.

Story from BBC
NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4321963.stm

Gongadze killed to discredit me: Kuchma

Mon Mar 7,11:41 AM ET

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine's ex-president Leonid Kuchma said the
murder of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze that shook his regime may
have been staged to harm his own image, and once again denied any
involvement in the killing.

"I have already said that
this is all a game that began in 2000, when some people did not like
president Kuchma," he told reporters while attending a memorial service for
his former interior minister, who apparently committed suicide Friday on the
day he was due to testify in connection with the 2000 murder.

Former interior minister
Yury Kravchenko left a suicide note saying that he never ordered the murder
of Gongadze -- whose body was found beheaded after his investigations into
alleged corruption under Kuchma's rule -- and that he was a victim of
political intrigues.

"I am not guilty of
anything," police have quoted Kravchenko's note as saying. "I have become a
victim of political intrigues of president Kuchma and his entourage. I am
leaving you with a clear conscience."

Kuchma himself has
repeatedly denied involvement in the case, although his name was mentioned
in the suicide note.

He left the Czech Republic
and flew to Kiev on Friday pronouncing himself ready to answer prosecutors'
questions.

It was not immediately clear
whether Kuchma would be called in for questioning this week, although some
officials said that this was likely as the pro-Western regime of his
successor Viktor Yushchenko presses on with a case that has blotted
Ukraine's image in the West.

Kuchma joined some 100 of
Kravchenko's friends and family as well as several lawmakers -- though none
from the current government -- in a theatre in central Kiev for the funeral
service.

Both men were implicated in
the journalist's death after a former bodyguard released tapes that
allegedly featured Kuchma ordering Kravchenko to take care of the persistent
reporter.

At one stage in the tape --
which has been studied but never verified as authentic in the United States
-- the alleged voice of Kuchma is heard saying that Gongadze should be
"handed over to the Chechens."

Kuchma has said he is
innocent of any involvement in the crime, saying the tape was doctored by
his enemies, and also defended his former minister.

"Under no conditions can I
believe that he gave a criminal order," Kuchma said.

"He said that he is not
guilty, and I confirm this," Kuchma told reporters.

Kuchma however was evasive
when asked whether if he would be questioned in the case, saying: "I have
already said that this is all a game that began in 2000, when some people
did not like president Kuchma.

Mon Mar 7,11:41 AM
ET

Ukraine's ex-president Leonid Kuchma stands in front of Yury
Kravchenko's coffin during the funeral ceremony in Kiev. Kuchma said
the murder of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze that shook his
regime may have been staged to harm his own image.(AFP/Sergei
Supinsky)

Tue Mar 1,10:59 AM
ET

Heorhiy Gongadze, 31, a Ukrainian opposition-minded journalist and
the editor of the Internet newsletter Ukrainska Pravda, is seen with
his wife Myroslava and girl twins Nona and Sofia on this undated
family photo made in Ukraine's capital Kiev. Gongadze was abducted
in downtown Kiev in September 2000. His decapitated body was later
found buried in a forest outside the capital. President Viktor
Yushchenko said Tuesday 'Gongadze's killers were detained and they
are giving information to the investigators,' (AP Photo/family
photo)

Thu Feb 24,12:12 PM
ET

A record 199 candidates have been nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace
Prize including Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, former
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news
-
web sites) and the ailing Pope. Yuschenko addresses a press
conference at the NATO (news
-
web sites) summit in Brussels, February 22, 2005. Photo by
Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Wed Feb 23, 8:30 AM
ET

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (L) and European Union (news
-
web sites) foreign policy chief Javier Solana hold a joint news
conference after a meeting in Brussels, February 23, 2005. The two
men were discussing an 'Action plan' approved this week to bring
Ukraine closer to the EU with a view one day to securing membership.
REUTERS/Yves Herman

Tue Feb 22,
7:15 AM ET

U.S. President George W. Bush (news
-
web sites) (R) shakes hands with Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko at NATO (news
-
web sites) headquarters in Brussels, February 22, 2005.
Yushckenko was invited to a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine
Commission on Tuesday, as heads of state and government from
26 NATO countries met for a discussion on transatlantic issues
at the highest level. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Tue Feb 15,
9:03 AM ET

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko (L) and parliamentary
speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn attend a mourning ceremony at the
monument to Soviet soldiers killed during the war in
Afghanistan (news
-
web sites), in Kiev February 15, 2005. Ukraine marks on
Tuesday the 16th anniversary of the Soviet troop withdrawal
from Afghanistan. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Fri Feb 11,
7:35 AM ET

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (L) greets U.S. Senator
John McCain (R-Az), wearing Yushchenko's campaign scarf,
during their meeting at the presidential residence in Kiev,
February 11, 2005. The delegation of the U.S. Senators arrived
in Ukraine on Friday on a one-day visit to meet top state
officials and discuss further cooperation between the
countries. REUTERS/Sergei Supinsky/Pool

"We knew the
country was in bad shape"

A leader of
Ukraine's orange revolution, Yuliya Tymoshenko, 44, has been a
successful businesswoman and a political prisoner. Now she's the
country's new Prime Minister. She spoke to TIME's Yuri Zarakhovich
at her office in the Cabinet building in Kiev.

OLEG NIKISHIN/PRESSPHOTOS FOR TIME

Sunday, Mar. 06,
2005Is the
Orange Revolution a model for other countries in Russia's "near
abroad"? The orange revolution stands for the faith of
the people in their own strength. The dejection in post-Soviet РІР‚вЂќ and
not just post-Soviet РІР‚вЂќ countries was bred by the feeling that the
people couldn't change anything in politics. Georgia and Ukraine
prove that when the people trust in themselves, the politicians grow
compliant.

Is the drive
behind the orange revolution fizzling out? The festive
part is all forgotten. Our drive now is in working hard. It will
likely take more time and effort to fix things than we ever
supposed.

What are
your priorities as Prime minister? We knew the country
was in bad shape; we didn't know just how bad it was. We have to
tackle the moral and financial degradation of the state РІР‚вЂќ widespread
corruption, shadow businesses, a stagnating economy РІР‚вЂќ right away.
Normal people who want to invest in Ukraine are scared to come. This
fear must be overcome.

The
government's opponents say that your reprivatization process will
hurt investment in ukraine. All the properties that
were commercially valuable were brazenly carved up by [President
Leonid Kuchma's] entourage over the last decade. All the rest was
left to rot. Everything that went through legal procedures
established for privatization is inviolable. But whatever was handed
out for free to the entourage of the previous President will be
scrutinized. But it'll be done by a court, not by the government.

The
President talked about 30 or 40 businesses; you talked about 3,000.
The President was talking about an approximate number
of strategic objects. I talked in terms of the number of businesses
that the office of the Prosecutor General has scrutinized over the
last 12 years and has found irregularities. Should the courts rule
that a business must be auctioned again, the previous owners will be
compensated. They can also keep their business, if they pay its real
price.

How can you
tell legitimate privatized businesses from illegitimate ones when
you claim the office of the Prosecutor General is corrupt? There are honest, competent prosecutors who honestly did
their work. But all the irregularities they discovered were hushed
up.

Your
opponents claim you benefited from improper privatizations in the
1990s. I left business in 1996; privatization began in
1998. The business that I launched was in trade. My past life does РІР‚вЂќ
and my future life will РІР‚вЂќ show that I love my country and want to
serve it.

Russia has
put your name on the Interpol wanted list for alleged bribes to
russian military officials. I'm sure that now all
those corruption charges will crumble. Russia has placed itself in
an awkward situation, but I'm quite willing to help Russia get out
of this with the hope that our relationship will be equal and
friendly. How will you reassure people in Eastern
Ukraine, where many regard you with suspicion, that you're working
in their best interests? People in the east lived
in a tightly restricted, closed information space. So let's open
their information space and replace propaganda with information.
Then they'll understand that they have not lost the election but
won, just like the rest of the country.

Should
people invest in Ukraine right now? Rush! Ukraine's
current beautiful image truly matches the reality.

From the Mar. 08,
2005 issue of TIME Europe magazine

Ukraine
president to receive Kennedy courage award

By LOLITA
C. BALDORAssociated Press Writer

WASHINGTONРІР‚вЂќ Ukraine
President Viktor Yushchenko, who survived an assassination attempt last
year and battled through three elections in three months, will receive the
2005 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Yushchenko was told of the award Monday in a call from
Caroline Kennedy, president of the JFK Library Foundation and the late
president's daughter.

"Viktor Yushchenko has inspired citizens of the world
with his extraordinary courage" said Kennedy in a statement released
Tuesday. "His commitment to freedom and the democratic process is a
powerful example of how one person can truly make a difference. Viktor
Yushchenko is a true profile in courage who my father would have greatly
admired."

The pro-Western leader was sworn in on Jan. 23, after
a string of bitterly contested elections, weeks of mass demonstrations,
court battles and a grisly detour to Vienna, where he was treated for a
near-lethal poisoning that disfigured his face.

"Viktor Yushchenko amazed, awed and changed the world
through one of the all-time great examples of political courage," said
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. "He eminently deserves this award, and I
only wish my brother could be with us at the library to honor him
personally too."

A former central bank director, Yushchenko trailed in
preliminary election returns, but the final results put him narrowly ahead
of the 22-person field, including the Kremlin-backed prime minister Viktor
Yanukovych.

Yanukovych won the subsequent runoff, but both
elections were deemed fraudulent by international observers, and
Yushchenko eventually won a third vote convincingly.

Yushchenko will be presented with the award later this
spring by Caroline and Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The Profile in Courage Award is named for President
Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, and it is presented annually
to public servants who have withstood strong opposition to follow what
they believe is the right course. Past recipients include former President
Gerald Ford, Sen. John McCain and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.